The Piano
by Artemis Fowl II
Summary: A little story set before Sora wakes up, in which Riku finds a piano in the Mansion in Twilight Town. Pairing is, as always, Namiku.


He sat at the Piano, looking at the polished black surface. The lid was opened, propped up by the last person to play it, and they had no idea who that could have been. The Piano had been there for as long as anyone could remember, sitting in the mansion behind a locked door. The only reason they had cause to go in there was a Heartless had broken through the door in a desperate bid to escape his blade. Now he sat at it, wondering if it still worked.

In all honesty it shouldn't. A Piano this delicate and carefully maintained needed to be just that, _Maintained_. If it wasn't it would fall out of tune, seize up and sound awful. And yet, it looked perfect. He was debating whether to give it a try, and eventually his curiosity got the better of him.

He took off his blindfold. The simple strip of black cloth that had provided him with strength and security for so long now was removed, leaving his eyes vulnerable to the bright light. He winced, not used to any light at all and certainly not the bright sunlight that fell across the piano and his face. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light he looked back at the Piano, steeled himself and began.

He started out simple, not getting his hopes up just messing around. A "C" was tested and proved to be, in fact, the correct pitch. Next a light C major scale, tinkling from the Piano and wafting gently through the mansion. All seemed in order here as well. He tried something a little bit different; a B flat major, testing the remaining middle notes and found it all to be satisfactory. The Piano passing his testing he did a quick run, starting at the top and working his way down to the bottom, layering each pass as he went with another. The tones rang out, rich and vibrant. They filled the whole mansion and for one moment both other inhabitants froze in wonder.

Riku could hear that no note was even a semi-tone out, he had no idea how it worked but he was glad it did. Now that he knew he had a fully functioning Piano he sat back, rubbing his arm slightly nervously. He wondered what to play; this might be the last chance he got. Then he realised how stupid he was being, and if given a chance as wonderful as this he should take full advantage of it.

He began to play his life. A simple little song, starting in A major and shifting through to D minor occasionally. It wasn't overly complex at first, a simple broken chord in the left hand, a single note melody in the right. It was delicate and fragile to begin with, not like the loud brash person he had become. Shyly and unobtrusively it worked its was under every door, every room left filled with its sound. The other inhabitants again looked up; Naminé immediately leapt from her chair and ran out of her room, tiptoeing down the stairs and hiding behind the doorway the Piano was situated behind. DiZ continued working for a while before giving in and getting up to listen more easily.

As DiZ approached the door he was Naminé standing behind it, eyes closed and hear gently tilting as she listened. She looked truly happy for once, not just showing what she had come to remember as "happiness" but actual joy at something. The prospect both amazed and worried DiZ, but he became distracted by the Piano again and pushed open the door, allowing the sound to escape.

Just as he did Riku moved on, rather than play his life on Destiny Island where he had been happy with his friends, he played his descent into darkness. The tune switched abruptly to C minor, the bass becoming complex and weaving, the right hand joining it. His fingers danced across the keys, coercing the Piano into the most gentle of noises, the faintest of notes. Conversely when he reached a part of his life he was particularly dissatisfied with, like betraying his friends, the song became frenzied and loud, the harsh notes becoming disjointed and clashing unseemingly with each other. Then it would settle down again, returning to its melancholy tune.

Naminé opened her eyes at a brush on her arm, and leapt back in shock at seeing DiZ walking into the room. Fearing him putting a halt to the wondrous noise she followed him, only to be amazed yet again as he walked over to one of the richly padded chairs and took a seat, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the head-rest. Following his cue Naminé sat down on the floor, on the other side of the room. She didn't close her eyes this time, but watched Riku play.

Half of the time he didn't look at the keys. He stared out of the window opposite him, looking at the broken stone pillars and overgrown vines, and yet not seeing any of it. His gaze fell somewhere else, possibly the past or possibly just the music itself.

The piece shifted key again, returning to A but this time A minor as he remembered his parting from his friends, and his withdrawal into the Realm of Darkness. It softened to almost nothing as he remembered the torment Xehanort put him through in that place, but gently rose when he remembered DiZ rescuing him, and giving him both a purpose and a way to save his friends... if not undoing what evil he had wrought, at least atoning for it.

He moved onto his missions next, the music becoming jagged and sharp, the left hand alternating between broken chords and sudden sharp chords, his right staccato and simple. His audience became agitated, the calm bestowed upon them from their recent work suddenly shattered. Then...

He paused for a moment, the silence accenting the recent music more than anything else had. When he started it was in a new key again, not minor yet not major. It was a gentle increase from the silence, in fact DiZ took a moment to realise the gently tinkling was actually the Piano.

It began again, slowly brining itself to a start, gently intruding on everyone's thoughts and bringing a sense of calm yet also a sense of sorrow. It quickly rose to a crescendo, drowning out all thought and emotion save the single though of the music, alive and writhing through the air.

In his mind he could see what he was playing... or rather who. A girl, not older than him and yet ancient, not younger than him and yet only days old... Blonde hair that was whiter, blue eyes that grabbed attention and a smile that lit up rooms. He played for her, the joy at seeing her and the happiness he felt when he spent time with her... He also played for the fact she had no heart, and no emotions of her own. She could parrot emotions she had seen in other people's memories and even apply them so well it seemed she truly did have feelings, but she knew better than anyone she had no real feelings.

Except... every now and then she would look at him and there would be her usual smile that she reserved for him but there would be a look of true compassion in her gaze. At times like this Riku's heart would soar, and his music reflected it as the notes swelled again, encompassing hope and his love whilst also hinting at the sadness that followed as the compassion faded from her eyes, leaving him wondering if it had been there at all.

Naminé jumped as she felt something wet land on her cheek, and quickly raised her hand. She found no source until another droplet fell, and she realised she was crying! Her, a nobody without a heart was crying... She quickly looked at DiZ to make sure he hadn't noticed, as he had never been very friendly towards her to begin with and a nobody with emotions could throw the proverbial spanner in his carefully laid works. He hadn't noticed, and was still sitting back with his eyes closed, a troubled expression on his face. Riku was still playing, completely unaware of the two of them, not playing for them but for himself.

The song began to slow, not finishing just stopping. It gently quietened until it was a faint hint of a song, and gradually died out with the same phrase repeating and slowing until... Silence.

He sat for a moment, hands not leaving the keys, looking at the Piano. A single tear fell onto his coat, and he gently picked his blindfold up, placing it back over his eyes.

DiZ stood up and walked out of the room, obviously going back to his work, but before he left; he clapped a hand onto Riku's shoulder. He didn't say a word, but this gesture of humanity was the most he had made in years and spoke volumes. Riku, however, didn't know that DiZ or Naminé were in the room and leapt a mile when DiZ touched him.

Immediately the tension in the room vanished and Naminé began breathing more regularly again. It surprised her to note her pulse was rapid and uneven, her breathed jagged a short. She forced herself to calm down as Riku carefully closed the Piano, covering the keys and strings. As he left Naminé relaxed, glad he didn't notice her sitting there. She stood and quietly listened at the wall to make sure there was nobody there, then tiptoed out of the room, hopefully to head back up to the white room before anyone noticed.

"What did you think?" A voice came from the dark. Naminé had to stifle a scream; being completely unaware of the boy standing in the shadows she had a quite violent reaction to the surprise.

"Riku! You scared me!" She said, calming herself down for the second time. Once she had lessened the adrenaline rushing through her body she spoke again;

"I liked it. It was beautiful and happy and sad all at the same time... it made me feel... I don't know, odd." She said, not looking directly at him.

"I'm glad you liked it, Piano music can have such a strong effect on emotions I don't know what it would do to..." And he tailed off.

"Someone without emotions?" Naminé said, poking him light-heartedly in the chest.

"But you felt something? What was it?" He asked.

"I felt... Like I belonged there listening to you, and I would have gladly stayed there forever. And... Never mind." She said, blushing by the end of the sentence (something she shouldn't be able to do anyway, but Riku gave no thought to it because he was far too distracted by how pretty she looked when she blushed).

"Tell me." He said, gently taking her hand.

"Well... I felt... Happy... Not normal happy, but like Kairi felt when she looked at Sora happy..." And she stopped again blushing even more.

"I'm glad you did, I feel like that as well." Riku said, gently pulling her into a hug. He was slightly startled when her initial awkwardness gave way and she gripped him tightly.

"I like you a lot Riku, please don't go away..." She said, muttering it quietly into his coat.

"I like you a lot too Naminé, and I'm not going to go anywhere."


End file.
